I generally avoid reading Ashis Nandy. Not because he cannot write in plain English, but because his writings defy sense in any language. To give the devil its due, I decided to give this a try. Not only did it confirm all my suspicions of the psychoanalyst but scarred me off him forever.
Every secularist worth anything is infuriated at Modi’s enduring popularity, which defies their mountainous analyses aimed at demolishing him. Their solution: pile on more analyses. Ashis Nandy operates in the same mould although I wouldn’t call him a mainstream secularist. His only claim to fame is his star credentials as an eminent clinical psychologist writing magnum opuses that nobody reads or cares about.
Before that, a glance at the mountain of Secular Analyses on Gujarat since 2002: initially Modi was a mass murderer, maniac, Nazi, Fascist…inspired by a murderous ideology…he wouldn’t win the elections because he didn’t have any economic development to his credit, etc. But he won spectacularly… so what, hate-based vote harvesting would take him only so far…now that he has demonstrated his development credentials, they tried an "expose" of sorts that strangely lost steam mid-river…
These tomes of mountainous nonsense are bounteous variants of exactly one strand: demonize Modi using any device at any cost. Fiction is Fact. Hate speech is free speech. Ashis Nandy adds another pebble to that mountain using the same devices refined to perfection with the fire of psychological prowess.
As an intellectual nobody cares about, Nandy, like that other sham-historian, Guha, targets Gujaratis as a specific race. The reason is right at hand: how dare they re-elect a "dangerous" man like Modi. More alarmingly, it looks like the election this year is again loaded in his favour. The Fearless Paper admits this in its "exit" polls.
Ashis Nandy froths forth these outrageous gems:
Gujarati middle class is at the moment having a love affair with hatred and paranoia. Like Bengali babus and Kashmiri Muslims, they were traditionally classified as non-martial by the British Empire and they smarted under that classification. Even when they themselves do not embrace violence, they vicariously enjoy it. They enjoy it even when the violence is directed towards them. In Surat city there’s now a statue of Shivaji, who sacked Surat more than once! Modi has tapped into that self-hatred of the Gujarati middle class and the sanction for violence that flows from it [...] Modi knows how to keep the middle class captive—through rhetoric, fear and anxiety. He knows only too well that his success lies in keeping that fear and anxiety alive. Thanks to the dramatic way he broke the threshold of violence in a society where the tolerance of violence has always been low, Gujaratis have begun to feel heroic. Modi has given them the vicarious pleasure of participating in violence, even while maintaining a certain distance from it. That is why the Gujarati middle class has become so hostile to any criticism of the present political culture of Gujarat. In many ways it’s a sick culture.
I’m not sure what propels people like Nandy to pen such self-righteous absurdity. That passage is so horrid that it defies dissection by the might of its sheer preposterousness. How does Nandy characterize an entire race or class of people with no basis in reality? Has he psychoanalyzed all Gujaratis? Does he have their recorded admission that they love violence because they hate themselves? Is an act of violence always rooted in self-hatred? Isn’t it reasonable that the tit for tat principle also has a place in human behaviour? Or is Nandy’s mass psychoanalysis of Gujaratis a result of his visible hatred of Modi? Would he praise these selfsame Gujaratis if Modi loses this election that they have "seen sense"?
However, in mentioning Shivaji, Nandy slightly slips off the mask he’s wearing: if you like Shivaji, you suffer from acute self-hatred. More importantly, there’s no evidence that Shivaji attacked Surat for racist reasons, which is the context of Nandy’s mention of Shivaji in this article. Nandy would do well to reopen his school history textbooks and read up on the Battle of Surat.
Nothing warrants Nandy to single out Gujaratis on the subject of tolerance of violence. At other places, Nandy has spouted the same cliches of "how the land that gave Gandhi has become soo violent." Gujarat has also given us Sardar Patel, who restored Hyderabad to India using violent methods. I’d like to know how Nandy characterizes him. Also, Nandy’s choice of words is quite interesting: sick culture.
Ashis Nandy writes as though the entire personality of Narendra Modi is his personal fiefdom. He seems to think the psychological playwords at his command give him this right. To bolster his "assessment" of Modi, he culls imaginary crap about the RSS and the dreaded Hindu Nationalist ideology. I’ll examine only the most funny nonsense in this selection:
Modi began his life as an RSS pracharak and the RSS is typically a product of middle-class India: it involves a rejection of both folk Hinduism and ordinary Hindus. Built on Hindu self-hatred and hostility to what is seen as the disorganised, folksy,anarchic, non-rational style of Hinduism that pervades village India,the RSS and the Hindu nationalists might make compromises with it for the sake of electoral politics, but like their alter-ego, the Leninist left, they presume that an enlightened middle class of partly deracinated Hindus will act as the vanguard and lead the Hindus towards an European-style nation-state. It is not an accident that the founding fathers of the RSS were mostly non-believers or weak believers. And even the present leadership of the RSS is not known for its love of Hinduism as it is; they want to retool Hinduism and make it more like Islam and Christianity.
Questions for the clinical psychologist:
- What exactly is folk Hinduism?
- Who are "ordinary" Hindus? Are there any extra-ordinary Hindus, or is that extraordinary Hindus?
- What is Hindu self-hatred? Why do Hindus hate themselves if they indeed do? How did you deduce that? How can you prove that?
- Again, just show me exactly one sign that defines folksy, anarchic, non-rational style of Hinduism? While you are at it, please also share your wisdom on the rational style (sic) of Hinduism?
- How is the RSS an "alter-ego" of the Leninist Left? More importantly, as a clinical psychologist, do organizations have egos, and alter egos? Or did you use "alter ego" merely as a literary flourish?
The last line is absolutely hilarious. If anything, the RSS is an object of derision precisely because it lacks both the intellectual polish and the language to defend itself. The RSS is yet to publish a reasoned critique of both Islam and Christianity close to something done by scholars outside organizational frameworks.
Ashis then shares a closely-guarded, personal experience that freezes your blood. I believe that experience has led the him to treat Modi’s personality as his fief:
I first met Narendra Modi over 15 years ago when I interviewed him. As a clinical psychologist, my interview went into his inner life, but it would be unprofessional to go into that. However, I can say this much: I found him dangerous. He was just getting into politics then and as a young RSS pracharak, his ideology,especially his almost paranoid perception of Muslims, was neat, earnest and frightening. I fear the earnestness of ideologues, and the incorruptible among them are the worst. It’s a disastrous combination:incorruptibility and earnestness. They will self-destruct rather than compromise on ideology.
What this learned academician never reveals is whether Modi met him as a patient meets a doctor. That’s because Nandy uses the word unprofessional. So did Nandy interview him as a practising, professional psychologist? Or did he seek Modi’s interview on a different pretext, which he doesn’t reveal here? What does that tell us about Nandy? He then builds on that premise and spews more psychological stuff:
Modi’s attitude to Muslims is understandable. His ideology, perhaps like all ideologies, has to setup a fall guy or anti-self. And that anti-self defines him.
Sorry, but what the fuck is an anti-self? Is it the antonym of a pro-self? Having "proved" that Modi suffers from psychological problems of Himalayan magnitude, Nandy makes a lofty-sounding assertion that:
All of us have a bit of Modi in us, but we don’t acknowledge it. The ruthlessness you see in him…
As evidence, what does he present in the entire 3-page article? Nothing apart from terms that nobody knows or understands.
I’m aware Ashis Nandy is highly regarded in some (?) circles as having achieved the pinnacle of success in psychology. This article is proof that a lifetime of studying the inner workings of other people’s minds leads to undiagnosable hallucination.
Tags: Commentary, History, Indian Politics, Media Watch, Pseudo Secularism Hall of Shame, Society & Culture
its an interesting read.
shows on what flawed presumptions the whole article of the so called psychologist is based on.
currently it is a trend, especially in english media to come up with their on theories about gujarat and gujarati people without thinking twice as to what are they saying. these people no nothing about the culture, background and history of gujarat and keeps on condemning one of the smartest business class of Bharat just for their liking of Modi.
http://www.zhagdoo.com/2007/11/16/gujarats-history-of-violence/
Dude- u rock !
I read that article in Outlook (where else?) and was disturbed by the use of his “sickening” words.
I love Gujaratis and have been associated with them all my life. As neighbours, as friends, u name it.
And they are a wonderful community. Extremely hard working, very enterprising. Bombay will become Patna without them - and this comes from a hard core Maharashtrian like me.
Its because that Gujaratis worked so hard Mumbai has reached where it has. Mumbai owes a lot to this enterprising community.
Ashis Nandy should rather psychoanyalse his own State of Bengal.
The tone and words used in the article sound like it has been written for some journal on advanced psychology, rather than for a rag-tag outlook to be read by the ordinary non-enlightened folk
Also, I never realize how can anyone term the RSS as communal, forget the shit-load of crap written by Nandy.
Assuming Nandy is a Bengali (I know some people who go by the title “Nandy” are bengalis), I want to say: How can a state who gave us freedom fighters like Netaji Subhash C. Bose, thinkers like Tagore, etc. give us crap like Nandy
who can neither be a fighter, nor a clear thinker.
The Sivaji reference is particularly hilarious. Wouldnt the statue of Sivaji fit in with the supposed Hindutva sympathies of the Gujjus ?
You are quite correct on the Psycho-babble that Nandy spews. It is enough in the English media to merely pretend to be an expert, use technical jargon - and when jargon is not available - just use English that is hard to understand. In no time, you are transformed into an expert.
On the racial analysis of all of Gujarat, we can actually go further back than the British denomination of “Martial Classes”. The name Gujarat is said to be a derivative of Gurjar (alternative Gujjar, Gujar). By the same British scholars the Gurjars were a tribe that ‘migrated’ to the Indian subcontinent from Central Asia. All Central Asian tribes were - hold your breath - martial!
While on self-hate, it is noteworthy that Nandy grew up a Christian. I wonder how much of the converts self-hate he carries.
I have written elsewhere why the press hates Modi, but will present here as well
1- He has made Muslim collective bargaining with the state using vote-banks irrelevant. In it’s earlier avtaar the BJP (notably Advani and Vajpayee) would plead only to be seen as ‘true-secularists’ as ask for the Muslim vote. The ‘liberal’ press in India admits to only one fundamentalism as being all right - any variance from there is hard to handle
2- Modi combines for the first time, conservative economic principles (wrongly called “Economic Reform” in India) with mass appeal. In the past only one has been true - you could have mass appeal only by resorting to socialist sloganeering. In his deeply Hindu garb, even NTR could not manage that and had to resort to populism.
The press in India being all crypto-socialists who want India to remain poor, they cannot help being hysterical.
3- Modi in a recurrent manner reminds the press-people of their failures - again and again. It started in 2002 and has never stopped. It is funny to hear the likes or Burka Dutt rant that “Modi will win the election but IRREPARABLY DAMAGE HIS PARTY. So much good English - all wasted on nonsensical idiocy.
There is no doubt that RSS wants to islamicise/christianise hinduism, and it’s succeeding partially.
Really enjoyed your analysis of this article and espically of this Nandy guy. Keep up the good work.
There is a lot of stereotyping of Gujaratis going on now in the media, and leading the charge are commies and fellow travellers.
It is claimed that adversity brings out the best, but as far as leftwing and semi-leftwing radicals are concerned, adversity brings out their nastiest traits. Frustrated leftwingers tend to let their guard down and let their slip show, as is happening now. Beneath their mask of urbanity and sophistication, they are as petty-minded and prejudiced as the semi-literate villager, except that the villager probably doesn’t carry his prejudice with malice. The Nandy types are extending their hatred for Modi into hatred for the Gujarati (Hindu), because it is really the latter who is frustrating them.
Nandy’s paranoia shows in the irony-challenged nature of his writing. Sample this: “Modi’s ideology, especially his almost paranoid perception of Muslims, was neat, earnest and frightening”. And in the very next sentence: “I fear the earnestness of ideologues, and the incorruptible among them are the worst”. If Irony bit this fruitcake in the butt, he would perhaps blame it on the Gujaratis.
This is a very bad article and as psychobabble goes it is many times worse than the worst bakwas produced by the likes of Prahalad Kakkar. In other countries a person like Nandy would be confined to the Op Ed pages, but in India with our trashed up culture, Nandy, Guha, Sen etc., serve as full-time scholars. The article is trashy from the go - where Nandy erroneously clubs Modi, Gowda, Lallu, and Mulayam among the ‘marginalised’. What a crock. The Yadav consolidation or creation of a Yadav clan in modern times parallels similar movements among the Thevars, Nadaras, Mundas (Birsa Munda) and others which saw them gain political ascendency some time in the ’50s also taking over the patron’s role in “managing” Hindu practice. And what can you say about Deve Gowda a fellow clansman of Kempe Gowda, founder of BendhaKaluru?
Nandy’s family converted to xtianity, so his loathing of Hindus is understandable.
Ashis Nandy should rather psychoanyalse his own State of Bengal.
Unlike the gujjus who are putting up with the shit thrown at them with dignified silence, my fellow bongs, especially those of “secular” and “liberal” persuasion will start screeching and screaming if they come under such attack.
Sandeep,
Nice one..
Going by some of his conclusions.. I wonder where Ashis Nandy got his degree from? Does he have a degree in Psychology or English ?!!
By the way, I visited Gujarat last month
- CNG implemented in Amdavad and Gandhinagar (Gandhinagar happens to be the greenest city of India) . Amdavad which was one of the most polluted places in India now has much cleaner air than Pune, Lonavla or Mumbai.
- I dont remember even a single powercut in Amdavad in a week !! (No, the folks I was with did not have an invertor)
- Amazing roads.. though there is a traffic problem, but you will hardly find potholes on major roads. Even in areas called “mini Pakistans” in Amdavad (where muslims rioted carrying nawaz sharif posters during Kargil war). So much for discrimination against muslims in bad bad Gujarat…
- If Modi concentrates on getting investments in Finance and IT industries to the state, it is one of the best states in India to live in.
Since this blog is so particular about facts I would like to see few things checked. Is Mr. Nandy a “clinical psychologist” Is he a “psychoanalyst”? In the heyday of psychoanalytic movement everyone with a theory was a psychoanalyst. As a psychoanalyst I am sure Mr Nandy is certainly aware that the 70’s fashion of stereotyping on the basis of national character or racial traits has been proven to be baseless.I guess Mr. Nandy was so busy publishing his intellect that he forgot to update himself in his chosen feild basking in the “clinical psychologist” glory that the english media seems to have bestowed on him.
I do not want to dignify his comments on Narendra Modi. Instead I have a nice suggestion for Mr. Nandy. Get analysed. that is aprerequiste for training in psycho analysis. That might give you abit of understanding about why you hate your own culture and your own people (Parental neglect and anger against your mother is my pet theory)
Both Comrade Jujung and Ashis Nandy are concerend about the alleged attempts to Islamize Hinduism. Now, for argument’s sake, assume this is true. I don’t understand why that should be a matter of concern. Comrade Beijing, Ashis Nandy, Comrade Thapar and a host of others who believe that Hinduism should be preserved in what they think is its pristine form should tell us what exactly is so loathsome about Islam that becoming Islam-like is a bad thing. Moreover, I assume their distaste for Islam and Christianity extends into detesting conversions into these religions as well, for converting to Islam or Christianity ought to be a worse prospect than Islamizing or Christianizing gradually.
I also notice that Comrade Beijing and Nandy are NOT worried about Hinduism becoming communism-like. But that is the prospect that worries me most, because Communism is an ideology that murdered millions.
Reading Nandy’s jeremiad it is becoming increasingly clear that secularists are not only frustrated at Gujarat’s voters but also quivering at the prospect of the inevitable- Modi’s ascendancy in BJP and his ultimate elevation to Prime Ministership of India. As much impossible as it looks now, it will become irrestible once the nationalist base pushes for it, which it obviously will after the results are out.
Besides, Modi’s take no prisoners attitude–fortunately unlike Advani and Vajpayee, be it with “communal socialist” welfare state, special interest group pandering or the more stifling grip of entrenched elites means the secular monopoly is in danger. It is this that most unsettles the Nandys and Burkas of this world.
Reading Nandy’s jeremiad, it is becoming increasingly clear that secularists are not only frustrated at Gujarat’s voters but also quivering at the prospect of the inevitable- Modi’s ascendancy in BJP and his ultimate elevation to Prime Ministership of India. As much impossible as it looks now, it will become irrestible once the nationalist base pushes for it, which it obviously will after the results are out.
Besides, Modi’s take no prisoners attitude–fortunately unlike Advani and Vajpayee, be it with “communal socialist” welfare state, special interest group pandering or the more stifling grip of entrenched elites means the secular monopoly is in danger. It is this that most unsettles the Nandys and Burkas of this world.
Sandeep, can you please remove the duplicate post. Thanks.
Ghost Writer,
Happened to see your comment late. Excellent analysis, except for a minor quibble. The statement “press in India is crypto-socialist” needs to be qualified further. The ownership of the media is no longer socialist, barring the dogma-driven The Hindu group. The media has benefitted immensely from the reforms of the past decade and half, and will continue to benefit from free market economics. At a time when its major source of ad revenue was government tender notices and other such parasitical crap, it made sense to be “socialist”. But today even The Hindu — oped page rhetoric notwithstading — bends over backwards to please business, as in fact it has done by issuing an apology to Kroloskars when they threatened to withdraw their ads with The Hindu over some tiff with the paper.
But it is true that 1) a good number of people who work in the media are commie, because this is a matter of legacy, and discriminatory recruiting and 2) owners of media entitiesare by and large in the Congress camp, and they have a compact of sorts with their leftwing editorial staff that lets the latter bash Conngress’ rivals but not the Congress. Why are media owners in Congress’ pockets? This again is a matter of years of conditioning and historical legacy. This is the loyalty of the wife who submits to her husband’s beating and abuse when he’s drunk or angry but is also used to being pampered or bribed to give him what he wants (sex, perhaps).
Firstly, Nandy is not difficult to understand he is an academic.
I believe what he is referring to is a trend named strategic syncretism. The RSS has attempted to find in Hinduism several of the most prominent elements of British colonial ideology in order to defend against the damage inflicted to their egos by colonial domination
Ashis Nandy got his degree from one of the most prestigious psychoanalytic faculties in the world, at Stuttgart. He is also a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities, University of Edinburgh among many other accolades. I am sure his credentials surpass yours by anyones estimation
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/21gujpoll.htm
Inspite of all this Modi still looses the election, shame on the people.
Psychoanalysis is a pseudo science, pyschoanalysis should be read for entertainment, it does not provide any meaningful insight.
“I believe what he is referring to is a trend named strategic syncretism. ”
What he is doing here is bullshitting (of which pyschoanalyzing is a special case).
Chris,
I am sure his [Nandy's] credentials surpass yours by anyones estimation Chris does not equal anyone. Chris = Chris. Whether Nandy understands psychoanalysis (forget its pseudoscientific basis) or not, it is certain that you understand nothing.
“but what the fuck is an anti-self?”
:)
That was good!!
Does Nandy talk about self hating hindus because he is one ? Is this called projection ?
The problem with Nandy is that he keeps regurgitating the same arguments over and over again. So he assumes that his audience is aware of his ideas and he just needs to apply those ideas in the context of the column he is writing.
I wouldn’t comment on the psychoanalysis aspect since I don’t know about it much myself. However, his books are thought-provoking. You will find answers to questions you posed:
* What exactly is folk Hinduism?
* Who are “ordinary” Hindus? Are there any extra-ordinary Hindus, or is that extraordinary Hindus?
* What is Hindu self-hatred? Why do Hindus hate themselves if they indeed do? How did you deduce that? How can you prove that?
* Again, just show me exactly one sign that defines folksy, anarchic, non-rational style of Hinduism? While you are at it, please also share your wisdom on the rational style (sic) of Hinduism?
* How is the RSS an “alter-ego” of the Leninist Left? More importantly, as a clinical psychologist, do organizations have egos, and alter egos? Or did you use “alter ego” merely as a literary flourish?
I am not suggesting that this is the right explanation. However, Nandy believes that early Hindu reformers such as Raja Ram mohan Roy, Rev. Lal Behari Day, Dayanand Saraswati, in general the Bengali Bhardralok of the 19th Century were influenced by West and tried to Christianise Hinduism by trying to mould it in a more monotheistic monolithic religion with everyone following the same philosophy/rituals and having a central authority etc. He contrasts these with Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar and and Dwarakanath Vidyabhusan. These men aimed to reform Hindu Society from within, hence they differed from both the Brahmo Samaj liberals and Gaudiya Samaj conservatives. These men found mythological stories and thus justifications for widow remarriage etc. as opposed to the liberals who transplanted European notions onto Hinduism using laws which interfered with the practice of Hinduism during the era.
Nandy says that these reformers were embarrassed by the folksy side of Hinduism which was rife with superstition, more concerned with the rituals of the Shakti sect rather than the philosophic side of the Vedas etc. According to Nandy, the everyday Hindu follows his own heart in matters of religion and rarely if ever involves himself/herself with the philosophical study of Vedas or Upanishads or Brahmanas. The distinction between Vedanta and vishista Advaita philosophy are not what the ‘ordinary’ Hindu is concerned with. Instead ‘ordinary’ Hindus will be more concerned with folk tales from the religious books and draw a lot of moral lessons from Hindu mythology. This was something the 19th century bhadralok had contempt for and hence they were self-hating Hindus who tried to forge their own religion to the one they admired (a monotheistic, monolithic religion having centralised authority; Christianity)
Anyways, Nandy further claims (a claim many anti-Hindutva writers have made before) that because of the diversity involved in the practices of Hinduism across India, it was difficult to forge a national identity using religion. Since the earlier revolutionaries such as Savarkar studied in Europe they were taken in by how religion could be used to forge national identities across Europe. (As an aside Nandy is a great admirer of Savarkar. He believes that RSS has twisted his ideas to suit their ends.) Savarkar and Hegdewar were atheists/agnostics who transplanted ideas of European revolutionaries such as Giuseppe Mazzini onto the Hindu populace in order to forge a national identity based on religion. Savarkar and Hegdewar were rationalists having contempt for superstition and rituals of Hinduism and they tried to highlight the martial side, more of the rational side of the philosophic Hinduism which was limited in appeal and only the intellectuals were acquainted with. About the Leninist alter ego this is what Nandy means: The founders of RSS were influenced by European revolutionaries, they were rationalists, atheists, had disdain for practices of their religion, were influenced by ideas of modernity and were willing to use violent means to achieve their ideals which were not resonant with the masses and majority practitioners of their own religion.
Anyways, I have taken up enough space. I would like to iterate that I have tried to present Nandy’s ideas as I understand them by reading two of his books and many of his articles online. If you find them illogical or raise someone’s hackles here because of his terming Arya Samaj founder as a self-hating Hindu trying to Christianise Hinduism, it is him you need to take issue with, not me.
BTW, Sandeep I don’t know whether you are aware of this guy Sid Harth who used to spew venom at Hindutva sympathisers on Society Culture India Marathi forums. That guy, though admittedly, not your ideological peer is a scholar on Savarkar. I haven’t come across anyone on the Internet who has studied Savarkar and his writings the way this guy has. He and Nandy share some of the views on Savarkar.
[...] Q: Really? Despite all these horrid qualities, how did it triumph? DA: Because divisiveness breeds divisiveness and it breeds only in Gujarat because my friend the eminent psychologist, has proved that Gujaratis hate themselves. Therefore, hatred works. Hence Moditva. [...]
Or is Nandy’s mass psychoanalysis of Gujaratis a result of his visible hatred of Modi?
As someone who knows a thing or two about Psychology, let me tell you these:
1. There is nothing called “Mass Psychoanalysis.”
If there were any empirical studies which showed that Gujaratis suffer from self hatred, the anti-Modi media would’ve let us know it already.
This is armchair scholarship - conclusions based purely on subjective personal opinion, not objective empirical findings.
2. Psychoanalysis as a scientific tool has long been discredited and is today considered pseudoscience. In the United States, Ashish Nandy would’ve been a psychologist of the lowest standard.
Before the advent of Behaviorism on the scene in the 1950s, Psychoanalysists enjoyed a lot of respect. There was this aura about them - as if they are Gods or something - because their “science” was new, different and very interesting. Maybe Nandy still lives in that era.
Psychoanalysis is discredited today because the theoretical basis of Psychoanalysis cannot be falsified - meaning the claims that are made by it are not testable empirically.
It is a bit like Astrology. Acc. to Astrology, certain combinations and alignments of heavenly bodies cause changes in human behaviour. For us, there’s no way of testing these claims in an experimental setting because we lack control over positions and movements of heavenly bodies.
Similarly, it is not quite possible to observe, measure and control things like sex and aggression drives objectively.
3. Even when they themselves do not embrace violence, they vicariously enjoy it. They enjoy it even when the violence is directed towards them.
What rubbish! Nandy is basically talking about repression. Acc. to this pseudoscience, human beings have two basic drives - sex and aggression. These drives come from the immoral Id and are balanced by the moral Super Ego. The control between the two is exercised by the Ego.
Impulses from the Id, which are painful when measured against the moral standards in the Super Ego, are repressed by the Ego. It is a defence mechanism. These repressed impulses enter the unconscious mind and are not usually accessible to the conscious mind.
However, there are times at which these impulses burst their way into consciousness through various ways. One way which is very popular is “slip of the tongue.” Other ways in which these repressed impulses manifest is abnormal behaviour, depression - improper psychological condition basically.
So what Nandy is effectively saying is this - Gujaratis are humans, they have aggression impulse, they have repressed it all along, now they see Modi, they can set these natural aggression impulses free, though only in a vicarious manner (by seeing violence.)
However, I still cant fathom how Gujaratis can satisfy their aggression impulses by enjoying violence directed towards themselves! What rubbish!
the question is of course why dont the psuedo secularists subject the Islamo fascists to the same scrutiny ?
[...] Rediff describes Ashis Nandy–who has been suitably psychoanalyzed on this blog earlier–in glowing adjectives: thinker, political analyst, but above all, he is India’s most famous liberal thinker, in this five-part interview where Nandy shares his expert views on Sonia Gandhi’s performance as the chairman of the UPA. Having read the entire interview–much against the counsel of my inner voice (bless Mata Maino)–I feel compelled to add another adjective to Nandy: Sonia’s personal psephologist. [...]